


Family Reunion

by BrennaCeDria



Series: The Hero, The Champion, The Revolutionary [21]
Category: Dragon Age
Genre: Drabble, Gen, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-09
Updated: 2012-11-09
Packaged: 2017-11-18 06:41:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/558017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrennaCeDria/pseuds/BrennaCeDria





	Family Reunion

_I've long since head canoned that my non-Warden!Amell and my Warden!Bethany met at some point. After being given a prompt of one character sharing a "sweet secret" with another, specifically for said Vrania Amell, I realized that writing their meeting was the only possible option. (And if you've ever read my Vrania, you'll understand how significant the end really is.) Takes place after Act 2, but before Act 3 of Dragon Age 2. Everything else is Bioware's, as always._

* * *

It was one of the dirtier of the inns she'd worked at in the last few years, but at least it wasn't another whore house. Vrania cleared a recently-emptied table of tankards and deposited them at the bar, then glanced around the common room. It'd been a quiet night; with luck the few stragglers would head home or up to their rooms, allowing the bar to close up early and maybe—just maybe—she could get some sleep for once tonight.

_Fat chance, that_ , she thought to herself, tensing as the door opened and a new party let themselves in. They were a curious group, and as one of the women removed her cloak Vrania saw the crest on her armor—the double-headed griffon of the Grey Wardens.

_Not templars, then_ , she sighed in relief. She'd gotten damn good at hiding in plain sight over the last six years, even to the point where she could serve the Chantry's knights face to face in the various inns, taverns, and shops she'd worked over the years without any of them suspecting what she was. Nonetheless, she was always nervous when anyone she didn't know suddenly appeared. Always nervous, and always ready to run.

Brushing a strand of dark hair back behind her ear, Vrania painted on her best smile and greeted her new guests. "Anything I can get you loves?"

Perhaps a better question could have been what she _couldn't_  have gotten them. The two men each ordered three plates of the roast, and the first woman—an elf with red curls—ordered two bowls of stew. Plus ale for all three. The last one, also a woman judging by the height and frame, but still cloaked, asked only for some mulled wine. After confirming that she'd heard their orders correctly and that the quantities weren't some joke at her expense, Vrania returned to the kitchen to start prepping their suppers.

"I'm sorry we're being such a burden so late, serah," a light voice sounded behind her, and Vrania spun to find the fourth Warden hovering at the kitchen door with a small smile. The girl couldn't have been more than a year, maybe two older than Vrania herself, with warm brown eyes and hair that just barely curled at the ends. "My companions' appetites are a bit extreme, after all, and I figured you could use an extra hand."

"Thanks," Vrania genuinely smiled, surprising herself. "I take it the Grey Warden appetite isn't just a legend, then?"

The girl laughed. "No, it's quite literal. The only reason I didn't order just as much is that I ate on the road; otherwise I'd be just as bad as they are. But where are my manners? My name's Bethany," she volunteered, offering her hand.

Hesitating, Vrania finally took Bethany's hand in reply. "You can call me… Renée."

"An awfully Orlesian name for this far east in the Marches."

"Well, I.." No one had ever challenged her before, not on her name, not on her appearance. She was fairly certain this Grey Warden Bethany was a mage, but such things were allowed—not like Vrania, an apostate presumed dead years ago. "…I was named for a relative, when my family lived in Kirkwall."

_Why in the Maker's name would I have admitted to that, to anyone? A lie couched in the truth was one thing, but if anyone suspected—_

If Bethany seemed at all suspicious, she didn't show it. "I've got family in Kirkwall myself, you know," she commented as she located a knife to slice off some sides of the roast. "A sister and an uncle, and until recently my mother as well. I don't suppose your family might have known the Amells, did they, Renée?"

Shocked, Vrania actually dropped the bowls of stew she was carrying when she heard the name, burning herself as the liquid seeped through her skirts. Bethany was there just as quickly though, murmuring a quick spell and healing the burns before they could blister.

"Thank you," the younger girl winced.

Nodding in reply, Bethany fetched a rag to help clean the mess now that Vrania's injuries were taken care of. "It's no trouble," she smiled. "Though I wonder why you didn't just heal the burns yourself as soon as they happened."

"You mean you knew?"

"That you're a mage?" Bethany laughed again. "Of course. I might not have been trained in the Circle at all, but I know how to recognize a Harrowed mage. Especially one that's almost certainly family."

Confused, Vrania could only blink in reply as she tried to remember what little of the Amell line she could. She was so young when they took her to the Circle. Wasn't there an aunt of some sort who'd run away from home? Or maybe an elder cousin?

"I'm Leandra's youngest, if that helps? My mother eloped to Ferelden with an apostate from the Gallows a year or so before my sister was born. And I'm guessing you were sent there as well—to Ferelden—by your accent."

"How do you  _know_  all this?" Vrania finally asked, more in awe now than suspicious. She'd heard all the rumors of a scion of the Amell line reclaiming Kirkwall, even killing the Qunari's Arishok in single combat, but she hardly believed those tales, and she'd believed even less that she'd ever meet a living relative of any sort.

Bethany shrugged. "Mother always told us her cousin Revka had lost children to the Circle. And you,  _Renée_ , could be my sister's twin. Well, Ria's a few inches shorter than you, but otherwise either of you could pass for the other."

"What do you mean she lost  _children_  to the Circle? I thought I was an only child."

"All I know is that's how Mother always phrased it.  _Cousin Revka lost her children to the Circle and the templars_. Not child, but children." It was Bethany's turn now to study Vrania curiously now. "Although I don't know of any Amells named Renée that you could be named for, you know."

The younger Amell mage let her gaze falter. She believed Bethany, and that worried her—she never believed or trusted anyone. "My name's Vrania," she whispered finally.


End file.
